The third generation Motorola Edge is here. The vanilla Edge models stick to mid-range duties and aim to be a good middle ground between the flagships and the lites of the series. But beyond that there isn’t much consistency in what makes an Edge and Edge. Here is a three-way comparison between the Edge 2020, 2021 and 2022 models.
Motorola Edge (2022)
One interesting thing to note is that the Motorola Edge (2022) is the first phone to use the new Dimensity 1050. This is a 6nm chip with mmWave 5G as its key selling point. It also has two Cortex-A78 CPU cores (2.5GHz) and six A55 cores (2.0GHz), plus a Mali-G610 MC3 GPU. It is no match for a Dimensity 8000, but is fast enough for the mid-range and will offer faster Internet speeds than phones that only have sub-6GHz 5G.
Here the chipset is paired with 8GB of RAM, 256GB (non-expandable) storage and a mostly stock Android 12 (with some My UX tweaks and enhancements). The phone runs on a 5,000mAh battery with 30W TurboPower charging like its predecessor, but this year 15W wireless charging is supported (as is 5W reverse charging).
You need to supply your own charger, though, there is only a USB-C cable in the box. Note that the USB-C port is wired only for 2.0 speeds, so there is no support for Motorola’s Ready For.
The Edge (2022) doesn’t have the slender profile of the 2020 model, but it is smaller than last year’s phone. It measures 160.86×74.24×7.99mm and weighs 170g (making it 30g lighter than the 2021 model). The body is rated IP52 (dust protected, resistance to dripping water).
The display is the smallest yet with a 6.6” diagonal on the 1,080 x 2,400px OLED panel (20:9). Size aside, this is the best display yet as it keeps the 144Hz refresh rate of its predecessor, but it beats it on quality thanks to its 10-bit panel with HDR10+ support. The switch back to OLED allowed the fingerprint reader to return to its under display position.
The rear camera further mixes things up with a 50MP main module (1.0µm pixels) with an f/1.8 lens and the first Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) in the family. It is joined by a 120° ultra wide camera with a 13MP sensor (1.12µm) and an impressively bright f/1.5 aperture. If that wasn’t enough, this camera can also snap macro photos. Finally, there is a depth sensor.
The main camera can record 4K at 60fps and slow-mo videos at 1080p@120fps. The ultra wide cam tops out at 1080p@30fps. The selfie camera on the front is as before, a 32MP sensor (0.7µm, 4-in-1 binning) with 1080p@30fps video capture.
A few other things to note include the dual speakers with Dolby Atmos sound. There is no 3.5mm jack on board, however. Besides the USB port connectivity is all wireless – Wi-Fi 6E (2.4, 5 and 6GHz), Bluetooth 5.2 and NFC, plus support for all the major positioning constellations. As for the 5G connection, you get sub-6 and mmWave with one physical nanoSIM and one eSIM.
The Motorola Edge (2022) appears only on the US site for now and the company is yet to reveal the complete launch details, but we’ll keep an eye out. Also, there is only one colorway available.
